Millions of TVs gain a huge BBC upgrade TODAY – but you may need to rescan your box first

A HUGE upgrade is happening on Freeview today that will see BBC One change for the better.

Millions of viewers will finally find all their favourite TV programmes in glorious HD on 101.

BBC

BBC will show all programmes on the BBC One HD channel from now on[/caption]

It means the dreaded red slate telling you to switch to the non-HD BBC One channel during the local news is no more.

But you may need to retune to take advantage.

The broadcaster kickstarted the process on Freeview in March with the first batch of English regions.

As of today, all regional variations of BBC One will be available on the 101 HD channel.

This includes:

• BBC One West – Points West
• BBC One South West – Spotlight
• BBC One North East & Cumbria – Look North
• BBC One North West – North West Tonight
• BBC One South – South Today
• BBC One South (Oxford) – South Today
• BBC One East (East West) – Look East
• BBC One East (East East) – Look East
• BBC One South East – South East Today

Although your local news will be available on the HD channel, it may not appear in the better quality right away.

Only some of the BBC’s local studios are kitted up for HD broadcasting – the rest will remain “upscaled” SD versions until upgrade works are done.

Viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland already have their version of BBC One entirely in HD.

If you don’t have a HD Freeview box you’re unaffected by the changes – unlike on satellite which caused problems for a small number of households.

“We will be retiring the red slate that previously advised viewers to go to channel 1 for local programming, as viewers will no longer need to switch to channel 1 for local news and then back to 101 for BBC One in HD,” explained Kieran Clifton, Director for BBC Distribution & Business Development.

“If you don’t have an HD-enabled Freeview TV or set-top box, then you don’t need to do anything – you will continue to receive BBC One for your region, with local programmes, in standard definition at channel 1 on the EPG.”

Next on the BBC’s list of plans is an update to newer Freeview Play devices that are connected to the internet that will put BBC One HD right at the top in the channel 1 spot.

Beeb bosses also want BBC One HD for English regions fully available on BBC iPlayer.

In other Freeview news, viewers will find two brand new channels on their TVs from today as well.

Alamy

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